


tiresome paper dreams

by passengers



Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: Hades & Persephone au, M/M, in case you couldn't tell i like sunflowers, this is not the au i set out to write but it's the one i wrote
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-04
Updated: 2019-12-04
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:37:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,920
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21664441
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/passengers/pseuds/passengers
Summary: Nico was King of the Underworld. One of the most powerful gods ever born, feared by everyone.Then, one day, one sunny god burst into his life, bringing spring with him.And sunflowers. He brought lots of sunflowers too.
Relationships: Nico Hischier/Nolan Patrick
Comments: 10
Kudos: 90





	tiresome paper dreams

**Author's Note:**

> IF YOU FOUND THIS GOOGLING, KNOW ANYONE MENTIONED HERE PERSONALLY, OR ARE MENTIONED YOURSELF: please, please, PLEASE (please) close the tab. This is just a work of fiction.

Nico had felt the stranger a while ago, but he was lazy by nature. He had let them wander for a while, all the time aware of their presence. but he hadn’t felt like moving. Cerberus was supposed to deal with visitors.

After a couple of hours though, the presence was still tingling wildly in Nico’s periphery, a bright light in the corner of his eyes, and Nico was getting annoyed.

He teleported himself to one of the many fields in his domain and found a guy sitting there calmly, eyes closed, head turned to the sun. OR whatever Helios had put there instead of the actual sun. To be honest, Nico hadn’t paid any attention

One of the many misconceptions about the underworld was that it was dark. It was actually pretty bright. Not that Nico was complaining.

“Hello,” he said.

The guy opened his eyes and turned around, staring at him with the prettiest eyes Nico had ever seen.

“Oh, hi, there,” he said. He had a low voice and rosy cheeks. His brown hair curled at the ends. And Nico was staring.

“You lost?”

“Aren’t we all?”

“Not really. This is my domain.”

“Oh, you’re Hades.”

“Nobody calls me that anymore,” he said, waving away his words with a hand. He thought the Greeks of the ancient past had called him that. Not anymore. He was remembered, but not worshipped. He could deal with that. At least he didn’t have to interact with humans anymore like other gods. “I’m Nico now.”

“Nolan,” he said, smiling.

And Nico waited. Humans couldn’t step foot in his domain, so he had to be a god of some kind, the problem was he felt nothing except green and sunshine coming from him. And he was sure he had never met him before.

“Nice,” he said. “I still don’t know who you are.”

The guy seemed to blush, but Nico couldn’t really tell by the colour in his cheeks.

“They used to call me Persephone.”

And it dawned on him.

“God of spring. Giroux forced you to live among humans.”

The guy, Nolan, Persephone, rolled his eyes.

“He didn’t force me.”

“Right.”

“It’s what was best for me.” It sounded as if he was quoting someone. “It taught me a lot.”

“He kept you away from your birthright.”

“I make plants grow,” he said, rolling his eyes, his hands buried in the unkempt grass around him. “I can do that anywhere. I’m not exactly needed.”

“You’re vital for the prolonged survival of the world.”

Nolan snorted.

“I like what you’ve done with the place,” he said, looking around.

And Nico knew what he was seeing. Trees overgrown, fallen leaves, grass tall up to his waist. Brown and yellow. Death.

“Not my fault you haven’t been around.”

“I fear you don’t need me to help you grow your plants, you need someone to keep them in check. And alive.”

“I believe in freedom. And I am the God of Death.”

“You’re just lazy.”

Nico smiled.

“Yes, I am.”

Nolan smiled and Nico felt like a moth, flying helplessly towards the light. He walked towards him and sat by his side.

“What was it like living among humans?”

“Enlightening.”

“What did you do?”

“I worked in a flower shop?”

Nico laughed.

“Of course you did.”

“Shut up. If you had to live in the human world, you’d probably work in a funerary.”

“Or as a serial killer.”

Nolan snorted and Nico thought he could get addicted to making him laugh.

“Are you back for good?”

“I do what G tells me.”

“Humans didn’t teach you how to think for yourself?” They were fickle creatures, yes, but nobody could say they didn’t think for themselves. Most of the time. They were greedy and easily manipulated, but well. Flaws and all that.

“They taught me loyalty.”

“Blind loyalty is just stupidity.”

“You do as the Pantheon says.”

“There’s a difference. I tolerate them, make myself debate with them and, in the end, I do what’s best for the Pantheon and for me. I don’t do things just because someone tells me I should. There’s a balance, I help maintain it.”

“I trust G.”

“Where did that get you?”

“In a nice flower shop in Philadelphia,” he said, the ghost of a smile on his face. “I was doing just fine. And then the Pantheon called and now I have to talk to you.”

“You’re the one who’s trespassing.”

“There were no wards,” he said, defensively. "And it's quiet here, even if it is a bit somber."

And Nico stopped. There should be wards. In fact, he could feel them. Nobody should have been able to go through them without Nico’s permission. But Nolan had.

“You can hear the world speaking,” he continued, closing his eyes and smiling softly. “The rumblings of the earth, the wind laughing.”

Nico didn’t hear anything except the beating of his heart.

“What did you do to the beast guarding my realm?” he asked instead of telling him there was nothing here but death, no earth talking, no wind laughing, just souls wandering, lost. And Nico, king of ashes and darkness.

The wards had never failed before, but in the case they ever did, Cerberus was supposed to eat trespassers. Except he was nowhere to be found.

“You mean that three-headed dog? It’s yours? It’s cute.”

“What.”

“I met him. I threw him a stick for a while. Last time I checked, he was napping under that tree,” he said, pointing to their right, where the vegetation was so thick it looked almost like a black hole.

Nico closed his eyes and indeed, he could feel Cerberus peacefully sleeping. Stupid dog.

“He’s not supposed to welcome strangers.”

“I’m not a stranger,” he said. “You know me.”

And Nico thought he might want to. Except nothing survived down here, least of all someone as bright as spring itself.

“Doesn’t mean you should be here.”

“Well, too bad,” he said, smiling, and Nico was reminded of the vines that climbed the columns of the throne room on Mount Olympus, thriving against the gods’ will, slowly taking over the white marble. “You’re stuck with me.”

-/-

The next time Nico saw Nolan was in one of those meetings Zeus insisted on having with all the gods. Granted, he was the father of all, but they had been doing this since the beginning of time basically, so they already knew what they were supposed to do. Most of them at least. Still, Zeus summoned them, and they had no choice but to go. His excuse? They were the perfect opportunity for gods to smooth over their differences in front of the mighty God of the Skies. The reality? Most of the time they ended up starting new fights, and Zeus was forced to call for an end to the meeting. Those were Nico’s favourites. And if the meetings were too boring, all he had to do was slip one precise comment on Ares’s ear and watch as he tried to fight someone.

This time, though, he had a feeling he would endure the entire meeting without causing any trouble.

Nolan was sitting on the ground to Zeus’s right, his hands around a pot full of wet, dark soil, his eyes focused, as if there was nothing else in the room.

Until he raised his eyes and found Nico staring. He gave him a small smile and turned his face back to the pot.

Nico spent the rest of the meeting staring at Nolan, who locked eyes with him from time to time, always smiling, humming something under his breath, low enough that Nico couldn’t hear it, but he would swear he could feel it in his bones

Finally, Zeus dismissed them and Nico rose slowly. Nolan was still sitting on the ground, his hands touching the soil reverently. The air smell of ozone and thunder.

“Kid,” Zeus called.

“Shh,” he said and then smiled really big. “There.”

Giroux sighed, but Nolan didn’t pay him any attention. Nico walked towards them and kneeled in front of Nolan to look at the pot. There was a tiny green stern fighting to emerge from the dark soil.

“Persephone,” Zeus said, waving to Nolan with his hand. He seemed tense, but he always did when he dealt with Nico. He was used to it by now.

“Nolan,” Nolan said, still not looking at him, caressing the tiny stern with his finger. There was dirt under his short nails.

“That’s what I thought,” Nico said, and he forced himself to look away from him from the pleased smile adorning his lips. “Could you make these meetings any more boring, G?”

“I could try,” Zeus said.

“Should you be trying to antagonize the God of the Underworld?” Nolan asked, finally looking at him.

“Don’t you have anything better to do than to play with plants?” G asked instead.

“Nop,” he said, smiling.

“I’m not accepting any more plants,” he said. “And you know TK is going to kill them slowly.”

“That was one time, and he’s learnt from that.”

“Really?”

“Well, I’ve learnt to give him plants that don’t die, so I’m counting it as a win. And anyway, this is not for him. Or you.”

“Who is it for?”

Nolan shrugged.

“I’ll know it when I’ll know it.”

“I should have left you in Philly.”

“You should have.”

“Why didn’t you?” Nico asked.

“God only knows.”

“You’re God. Or as godlike as they come,” Nico reminded him.

“Doesn’t mean I don’t make mistakes.”

“That’s reassuring.”

“You and Ares getting along?”

“He keeps making people fight and then they die, so yay for me.”

“Not what I meant.”

“I don’t care.”

“Nico.”

“Just keep him away from my domain.”

“Or what?”

“Well, even gods can die, and it’s been a long time since I’ve hanged a trophy on my throne room. His head would go nicely with the decor.”

Nolan hid his smile on his shoulder and Nico forced himself to look away.

“Is that a threat?”

“A fact,” he said, showing G all his teeth. “And you’ll have to excuse me, as exhilarating as this conversation is, I’m going to leave,” Nico said.

Giroux crouched in front of Nolan, shaking his head and said something Nico didn’t quite catch. Nolan wasn’t paying attention, too busy waving at Nico. He didn’t wave back, but there was a prickly feeling in the corner of his mouth that he refused to acknowledge.

-/-

“Why are you here again?”

“Where else am I supposed to be?” Nolan said. He was playing with Cerberus, throwing a stick bigger than his arm. Cerberus trotted happily back to him and dropped the stick at his feet, staring at him with wide eyes. He was drooling. From his three heads. Nico could relate.

“Don’t you have a job to do in the human world?”

“It’s winter there.”

“Yeah, on half the world. What about the other half?”

He shrugged, blushing slightly. Nico had learnt to tell the difference between his rosy cheeks and his blush a long time ago. And he didn’t feel like analysing that. Time passed strangely for gods. Sometimes it seemed to fly, merging together, and other times it just stopped. Nico felt as if he had known Nolan all his life and just for a couple of minutes at the same time.

Every time he looked at him, he felt like he was having whiplash. He didn’t know if he wanted to look at his eyes, his cheeks, his pretty mouth, the way his hair curled on his shoulders or at the games the light played on the muscles of his arms.

“Didn’t really need my help.”

“Did you check on your humans?”

“They are not mine.”

Nico waited. They had had this conversations too many times by now.

“Of course I did,” he mumbled, crouching to grab the stick Cerberus had just dropped. It was full of spit, but Nolan didn’t seem to mind.

“And you didn’t have anyone else to bother?”

“You get bored without me.”

Nico would never admit that, maybe, he did.

He enjoyed his domain. Most people and gods didn’t like death, so they tended to stay away from him. Nico didn’t mind. He did his job, played with his dog and enjoyed the peace and quiet.

But Nolan made everything seem brighter. And Nico felt like an addict, chasing one more dose.

“Have you eaten yet?” he asked, and Nico stared at him.

“No.”

“Cool, you can invite me to dinner, then.”

“No.”

“Okay, thanks, asshole.”

“I’m not being an asshole, but you can’t eat anything from the Underworld.”

Nolan turned to look at him even when one of Cerberus’ heads started licking his hand and Nico realized he maybe should have told him sooner.

Had it really escaped his mind?

Nolan was here more times than he was not. And Nico had never said anything.

“Why not?” he asked slowly.

“You just can’t.”

“That really makes me not want to eat anything,” he said, ironic.

“If you eat anything from here, you can’t survive anywhere else.”

“What.”

“You heard me. You’d be bound forever to my domain. You wouldn’t be able to leave. And no one wants that.”

Nolan stood there, frozen in place, looking at him as if he didn’t know him. And maybe he was right. He could have eaten anything any time and he would have no choice but to live here forever.

And that was wrong. Nico was having trouble remembering why, though.

Nolan was light where Nico was dark. He shined brighter than the sun, and the Underworld was full of colours, but they were dull in comparison to him.

And Nico was selfish, but he would never force Nolan to give up his home and his family and his friends.

“Okay,” Nolan said, and he was smiling again. “Then I’ll take you out to dinner in the human world, but you’re paying.”

“And why is that?” Nico asked, fighting a smile of his own.

“You’re the god of wealth,” he said, shrugging and turned around to coo at Cerberus, who was happy once again that he had Nolan’s attention all to himself.

-/-

“Why is there a sunflower in my room?” he asked Nolan the next time he saw him in one of those stupid meetings he kept attending. He was early, really early. But so was Nolan.

“You weren’t there when I went to drop it, so Bratt said he would give it to you for me.”

He looked like he always did, like sunshine in human form, and Nico only wanted to burn himself in him.

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

“Actually, it does.”

Nico sat down where he always sat, on the back of the room, where he could see everyone and everything. Nolan was sitting down on Giroux’s throne, playing with a leaf, the picture of relaxation.

“Nolan,” Nico said, and he closed his eyes, going still. Nico’s heart skipped a beat.

“It wanted to be with you.”

Of course he talked to plants, he reminded himself, he was the God of Spring.

“Alright.”

“Are you going to keep it?” he asked, and he sounded breathless.

“Do I have to water it?”

“Not really, but you can if you want to.”

“Okay. There’s something wrong with it, though.”

“Not even TK could kill my plants,” he said, laughing. “What did you do?”

“I didn’t do anything, it’s just weird.”

“What,” he said, pretending to be annoyed, but the smiled had reached his eyes.

“It never looks at the sun.”

“What do you mean?”

“Aren’t sunflowers supposed to follow the sun?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, yours doesn’t.”

“What does it follow?” he said, slowly, as if dreading the answer.

“Me,” he said, and he felt like an idiot. Nolan was looking at him as if he had grown another head, but Nico wasn’t delusional. Hallsy and Jesper had even confirmed it.

“Oh.”

“You don’t find it weird?”

He shrugged.

“I’ve done weirder things.”

And that wasn’t a lie. Nolan had made grow so many plants in his visits to the underworld that nothing he did surprised Nico anymore. The bush with little blue and white leaves that bloomed with the new moon? That was fine. The tree that kept dropping sticks every time Cerberus went near it? Nice. The yellow leaves that changed colours with the sunset? Pretty. The vine that ate those dreadful insects that somehow sticked to the souls wandering on the Underworld? Useful. The sunflower that followed Nico around his room as if he were the sun? Weird. But.

Nico massaged his eyes.

“Do you want me to take it back?”

“No,” he said, a bit too quickly, harsh. It was odd. At first, Nico had found it creepy. The bright yellow petals seemed to stand straighter when Nico got closer, and it definitely followed him around the room, but now Nico couldn’t imagine his room without it.

“Okay,” Nolan said. He didn’t sound small anymore, so Nico took it as a victory.

“You owe me dinner,” he said.

“What, why?” He was smiling now, and Nico couldn’t stop staring.

“Because it freaked me out the first time it did it.” It was a lie. He hadn’t noticed until Hallsy had pointed it out to him, but Nolan didn’t have to know that.

Nolan snorted.

“Alright. Same Italian place as last time?”

“Sure.” He was sure he would eat dirt if it meant Nolan looked at him like that.

“You’re paying, though.”

“Why?”

“You’re rich, remember?”

“Not your sugar daddy, Nolan.”

He blushed and Nico smiled, but their conversation was cut short when Simmers entered the room and found them there.

“What are the god of the underworld and the god of spring doing alone?” he asked, stepping off from a cloud of cool mist.

“We’re not alone,” Nolan said. “We’re together.”

“That sounds like the beginning of a joke.” Or a godlike orgy from years past. “Tell me more,” Nico said.

“What are you two doing here?” he asked, and he looked as if he’d rather be anywhere else even if he had just gotten here.

“Waiting for everyone.”

“The meeting doesn’t start for another ten minutes.”

“Then why are you here?”

“I like to be early.”

“Me too,” Nico said.

“You’ve never once in your life been early. Not even on time,” Simmers said.

“And I was just keeping him company,” Nolan said, the leaf on his hand turning colours every time he twirled it in his fingers. There were vines curling around the throne that burst into colourful flowers every time Nico blinked. He was sure they hadn’t been there before, but Nolan didn’t seem to notice.

Simmers looked at them, knowing they hadn’t really answered his question and that they didn’t care they had been caught doing… whatever. They were talking. That was all.

-/-

“I like him,” Alecto said.

She was one of the Furies, charged with torturing souls, and if Nico was human, he would have had a heart attack at her sudden appearance.  
Nico being Nico, he was used to her and her sisters. they were always changing forms, the better to terrorize their victims. Some days, they had snakes in their heads, hissing and slithering down their shoulders, their tiny beaded eyes following their victim relentlessly. Other days, they had a dog head. Cerberus didn’t like them when they were like that. Nico’s favourite was when they sprang bat’s wings from their backs and their hands ended in claws rusted with blood, their bottomless eyes merciless before the screams of their victims.

“I like your claws,” he said, sipping his wine. “And who are you talking about?”

“Sunshine boy.”

“The green deity,” added Tisiphone, appearing out of the blue.

Megaera dropped from the ceiling next to her sister, crouching, her bat wings extended for balance. “Sunkissed,” she said.

Of course.

“Nolan.”

“Yes,” the three of them hissed.

“Look,” Alecto said, extending her arms. There were vines covering them, full of tiny purple flowers. “They’re poisonous, a simple sniff and you’d be having nightmares for a decade,” she said, smiling, her rotten teeth in full display.

“Look,” Tisiphone said, shaking her head. The long snakes on her head were covered in tiny colourful leaves. “They burn whoever touches them.” A few leaves fell on the ground and started hissing, leaving a black spot where they had burnt to ashes.

“Look,” Megaera said, twirling. Her clothes were covered in colourful algae. “A single blade can enter the body through any orifice and consume it from the insides. It’s terribly painful.” Her smile was full of torment.

Nico sighed. It was one thing for Nolan to have Nico and his dog wrapped around his finger and another to enamour his Furies.

“We’re keeping him,” they said, their horrific faces smiling wide.

“No,” Nico said. “He belongs in Olympus, not here.”

“We don’t care.”

“I’m sure he does.”

“He spends all his time here,” Tisiphone said.

“He likes Cerberus,” Megaera said.

“He looks at you like you’re the sun,” Alecto said.

“No,” Nico said, ignoring that last comment. And before they could speak again. “Where is he?”

“You will not send him away,” Megaera said.

“We want him here,” Alecto said.

“He’s ours,” Tisiphone said.

“Don’t you have a job to do?” he said, dismissing them with a flick of his hand. His glass was empty by now, so he had no choice but to leave his comfy chair and go looking for one troublemaking god.

-/-

“What did you do to my Furies?”

“Hello to you too.”

“You didn’t answer my question,” he said, sitting down next to him.

He didn’t look at him, just kept staring into the distance. From the top of this hill, you could see a big part of his domain. It was quiet. He wasn’t surprised Nolan liked it here.

Nolan shoved some sheets of paper at him.

“Here.”

“What’s this?”

“For the god of the dead, you’re pretty lazy.”

“My system was working just fine until you put my Furies into your pocket.”

“I just gave them an upgrade.”

“They were doing just fine.”

“They haven’t changed in centuries.”

“So? They have to torture people. The old ways are not always bad.”

“They were stagnant.”

“Big word.”

“Not my fault you’re illiterate.”

“I’m not.”

Nolan smiled, and Nico checked the pages in his hands.

“How did you get these?”

“Your office has no security.”

“Of course it doesn’t,” Nico said, checking the list of names. “I’m the god of the dead, nobody dares cross me.”

“Oops,” he said, but he was smiling.

“What did this guy do? Why send him to Tartarus?”

“He hunted animals.”

“Lots of people do.”

“Animals going extinct.”

“Okay.” He looked at the next page. “You do realize I will have to check these, right?”

“Or not.”

Nico didn’t like it when people knew him that well.

“I don’t know why people think you’re this sweet, virginal god.”

Nolan snorted. Nico told himself it wasn’t a pretty sound.

“I’m neither of those things.”

Nico was starting to realize that.

“Can I ask you a question?” Nolan said after a few moments of companionable silence.

“Sure.”

“The bad souls go to Tartarus.”

“That’s not a question, little sunflower.”

Nolan pinched him.

“Where do the good souls go?”

“Not to Tartarus.”

“That’s not an answer.”

“It’s the truth.”

Nolan looked at him and Nico felt the need to explain himself.

“This is the Underworld, there’s nowhere else for those souls to go. They stay here.”

“So they just roam this realm?”

“Pretty much.” Nico pointed to their right. “Most of them are over there. But sometimes a few get a bit lost.”

“Where do they end up?”

“Here. Cerberus and Jesper herd them back to their place.”

“That’s sad.”

“They’re dead. There’s nothing else for them.”

“There should be.”

Nico turned to look at him.

“Being kind is hard. Being good is even harder. The world is such an ugly place. But they did it. They deserve something more than just an eternity of this.”

And Nico didn’t care about humans, but the sadness in his blue eyes made his heart hurt.

“This is all there is.”

“What if you made something else?”

“Souls are mine,” he said. “Do you really think Zeus will let me expand the Underworld to give them someplace nice so they can live their eternity happily?” He shook his head. “With every human that dies, I become a bit more powerful, and so does my realm. If I expand it, the balance will break. Nor Giroux nor Simmer will allow that to happen. I can’t allow it either.”

“You don’t need a new place.”

“Have you seen the Underworld?”

He shrugged.

“I like it.”

“Yeah, because there’s something really wrong with you.”

“What about that island over there?” he asked, ignoring his comment.

“That’s not exactly my domain,” he said, squinting at where he was pointing.

“Simmers’s?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Okay, it’s mine, then.”

“It doesn’t work like that.”

Nolan smiled and Nico would have to accept that, yeah, it worked like that.

“Give me a couple of days and then send the souls there.”

Nico waited a week and then teleported himself to the island.

He had never paid much attention to it, being on the edge of his domain, but it hadn’t looked quite like this.

It was beautiful, thrumming with life.

Words couldn’t describe the colours and the smells, and the plants growing everywhere. He could hear a waterfall falling somewhere close and the song of birds.  
He wasn’t sure if souls could actually enjoy this, but he hoped they could.

He found Nolan sitting under a tree. He was beautiful, but he looked pale.

“You look like shit,” he said. Tact was not his thing. And he was annoyed, because even pale and sweaty and dirty, Nico still wanted to ravish him.

“Thanks. Do you like what I’ve done with the place?”

“Doesn’t look bad.”

“Coming from you, that’s, like, the best compliment.”

“When was the last time you ate?”

“Can’t remember.” He yawned. “I’m a god, I don’t need to eat.”

“You do when you spend all your energy gardening.”

Nolan snorted but didn’t open his eyes.

“Can you teleport to Mount Olympus?”

“I don’t wanna go there,” he mumbled.

“Well, you can’t stay here. Until the souls step foot on this place, my power doesn’t extend to this island, so you’ll be a sitting duck.”

Nolan stood up slowly, grimacing the entire way, his legs shaking and then hugged (collapsed on top of) Nico.

“Carry me,” he said. He was smiling.

“I’m not going to carry you, Nolan.”

“Pretty please?”

Nico hugged him back, nosing along his neck, and teleported them back to his home. Once there, he forced himself to push him down on the bed in the room he had prepared for him. Nolan turned around and grabbed the pillow, smiling softly.

Nico hated him. He touched his cheek.

“I’m hungry,” he mumbled, turning his face towards Nico’s hand.

“Don’t eat anything, especially nothing the Furies bring you,” he said. He had already had to confiscate food they had tried to feed Nolan half a dozen times in the last month. “I’ll ask Hallsy to get you something from Olympus.” He left before he could do something stupid, like lay down next to him and watch him sleep.

-/-

It was dumb, Nico thought, how used to Nolan he was that he felt his absences like a punch in the gut. He wouldn’t tell anyone, but when he wasn’t there, Nico didn’t sleep very well.

He managed, though. He was a god and he didn’t really need to sleep anyways.

Luckily for him, though, Nolan had stayed in the Underworld for a couple of days now. And even if he didn’t exactly use the room Nico had prepared for him (had someone prepare for him), he wasn’t complaining. Sometimes, Nolan liked to sleep outside, under the bright stars, surrounded by the sounds his plants made. Once or twice, Nico had joined him, more to be near him than out of his need to connect with the Earth, as Nolan said. Nico never told him the smile he gave him when he woke up next to him in the morning was worth every tiny rock stabbing him in the back.

Today, though, was not a good day. There had been some kind of natural disaster, so the souls came pouring in and all the Underworld systems were working at full capacity to accommodate them plus their usual numbers.

Maybe that’s why Nico’s head was throbbing.

Giroux’s banging against his skull demanding to be let in wasn’t helping either.

“What did you do?” he asked Nolan as soon as he entered the throne room.

Seeing Nolan sitting comfortably on his throne should have made Nico aware that he was way over his head, but his head hurt too much.

Nolan looked at him.

“I usurped your throne,” he said placidly.

“I can see that.”

“Good,” he said and waved a sheet of paper. “This guy is an asshole, do me a favour?” he said, tilting his head. “Send him to the Furies.”

“Sure,” he said, not even questioning how easy it was for him to say yes to Nolan. “As soon as you tell me what you did.”

“You’ll have to be more specific,” he said, his attention back on the sheet of paper. He wrote something on the margins, humming to himself.

“Why is Giroux demanding entrance? He hasn’t stepped foot in the Underworld since he gave it to me.”

Nolan froze, but he didn’t look at him.

“I don’t know,” he said. And Nico knew him enough to know that he did know.

“I can’t help you if you don’t tell me what’s going on.”

“I haven’t been to Olympus in a couple of days,” he said finally.

“Okay.” That wasn’t anything he knew. Nolan came and went as he pleased.

“Actually, I haven’t been there for an entire week.”

“Why not?” Nico asked, staring at him. He could see the bags under his eyes and his skin looked pale.

“I’ve been here.”

“I know. What I mean is what are you hiding from?”

Nolan knew he couldn’t spend all his time down here or he would slowly waste away. Usually, he was good at coming and going back to Olympus long enough to replenish his energy and be able to spend more time down here. But lately, he was staying in the Underworld for longer and longer stretches of time. Nico had noticed, but he hadn’t said anything. And that was a problem.

“I’m disagreeing with G.”

“That’s nothing new.”

“I’m disagreeing with Simmers, too.”

“Is there anyone you’re not disagreeing with?”

“This guy started a fire in a forest because he wanted to build a shopping in the area,” he said. “Should the Furies torture him?”

“Sure. Yes,” he said, walking towards him.

“Well, I’m not disagreeing with you,” he said, smiling, but it didn’t reach his eyes.

And that wasn’t anything new, Nico was wrapped around Nolan’s little finger ever since he had met him.

“Tell me what’s going on,” he said, brushing his hair with his fingers.

Nolan closed his eyes.

“I don’t wanna agree with him.”

“You don’t have to.”

“I don’t wanna go back to Olympus either.”

“You can stay here for as long as you want.” Except he couldn't, not really. He had been here long enough and he was running out of time. Eventually, Nolan would have to go back to Olympus to recharge. Both of them knew that. But Nico didn't say anything and Nolan didn't mention it either.

“He’s not going to stop, you know?”

Yeah, Giroux didn’t like being told no. Too bad for him.

“I’ll make him stop. Now move, I wanna sit.”

“Where will I sit?”

“Don’t know, don’t care.”

Nolan stood up reluctantly but, as soon as Nico sat down, he sat on his lap, half-cuddling him. And Nolan wasn’t a small guy.

“Nolan,” he started, not sure what he was going to say.

“Can I really stay here?”

“It’s not as if I’ve managed to kick you out, my little sunflower.”

“Don’t call me that,” he whispered against his neck.

Nico didn’t ask him which part.

He closed his eyes and focused on Giroux’s angry shouts inside his head. He didn’t mind denying him entrance and dealing with his headache if it meant he got to keep Nolan like this.

“He thinks he can do whatever he wants with me,” Nolan said suddenly. “That he knows better. I’m not a child.”

He was getting angry, Nico could feel it. His words were harsher, his cheeks rosier, his eyes electric blue. The ground shivered beneath their feet.

“You don’t need me to fight your battles for you,” Nico said, his fingers tightening on Nolan’s hair. “But I won’t let him take you away.”

He was not afraid of anyone. Even gods could die.

“I’m just so tired of everyone telling me what I should do. I just want them to leave me alone.”

Nico scratched his scalp and Nolan sighed. It was stupid that he knew by now how to calm him down. The earth seemed to settle under them and Nico enjoyed having Nolan in his arms for a while.

“Should we get this over with?” he asked eventually, his head pounding. A part of him hoped Nolan said no so that they could stay like this for a little longer.

“Fine,” Nolan said, sounding a bit sleepy. “But I’m not moving.”

Nico tightened his hold and rested his head against the back of his throne, breathing deeply. He didn’t remember when the throne room, that he rarely used, had stopped smelling like dirt and gold and had started smelling like fresh air and wet leaves.

He wasn’t complaining.

“And I need you to do me a favour.”

“Sure.”

Maybe Nico shouldn’t agree to things he didn’t know, but he couldn’t find it in himself to care when it was Nolan asking.

“Okay, then," Nolan said, as if that settled the matter. And it did.

Nico allowed Giroux to enter his domain and let his lips stretch into a lazy smile.

In the next heartbeat, Giroux appeared out of the blue, surrounded in lightning, the air shimmering around him like thunder, his brows pulled down over his eyes, his mouth in an angry sneer.

“To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?” Nico drawled, his hand still buried on Nolan’s hair, the other one mapping his back.

Giroux seemed to notice their arrangement for the first time and his eyes turned white for a moment, the air charged with static. Soon, his powers were back under control.

“Nolan,” he said, breathing hard.

“No,” he said, not raising his head from Nico’s shoulder. He was shaking, but his voice was strong.

“Hi,” Nico said, pleasantly. “I believe we were talking.”

“Give him back.”

“You think I’m keeping him prisoner?”

“He’s been gone for days.”

“I don’t force anyone into my domain." Except a couple of souls, but they deserved it. "He’s a guest. He can leave whenever he wants.”

“Let’s go, Nolan.”

“No.”

“It seems to me he doesn’t want to go. So thank you for your dramatic entrance. See you,” he said. “I would wave, but my hands are busy at the moment.”

Giroux took a deep breath and squared his back.

“I’ve let you run wildly throughout the years, but I won’t tolerate this, Nico.”

“Tolerate what? You barging into my domain, bringing lightning and thunder, and making demands as if you owned the place?”

“I need to speak to Nolan.”

“Go ahead.”

“Alone.”

“Do you want me to leave you alone, little sunflower?”

“No.”

“Okay,” Nico said, smiling at Giroux. “You heard him.”

“How do you think this is going to end, Nico?”

“Hopefully, with you taking the hint and leaving.”

“This is a declaration of war.”

Nico laughed.

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me.”

“You really can’t take no for an answer, can you? That’s on you, not me.”

“You don’t wanna cross me.”

“I could say the same thing. I would bet on my souls against any soldier, god or human.”

Giroux shook his head.

“You made a promise, Nolan,” he tried.

“No,” he spat, and Nico could feel him shaking with anger. “You made a promise without asking me.”

“It’s what’s best for you.”

“Fuck you. I’m the only one who knows what’s best for me.”

“It’s a good match.”

“I don’t care, I don’t want it.”

Nico felt cold.

“What did you do?” he asked, his voice biting.

Giroux ignored him.

“We’re leaving and we’re talking about this,” Giroux said. “Above, where the air is fresh and you can feel the warmth of the sun.”

“I can’t,” Nolan said.

“We’ll talk. We can work it out together, the three of us.”

“Sorry, can’t marry Ivan,” he said, and Nico had the feeling this was not going to end well. For him. But he tightened his hold anyways. “I’m already married.” He nosed Nico’s cheek, and he saw the moment it dawned on Giroux.

He exploded in a scream of rage and the thunder raised goosebumps along his skin.

Nico sighed and grabbed Nolan's face, bringing him closer.

“You’re a fucking asshole,” he told Nolan quietly, staring at his eyes.

"You promised," Nolan whispered against his mouth, his hands holding onto Nico's wrists.

Nico should say no, he should tell G what was going on and let them handle this as adults instead of lying. Nico should know better by now not to wish for the sun when he lived underground. But he slid the ring he always wore off his finger and put it on Nolan’s anyways.

Giroux was still busy screaming profanities and literally hitting the walls of his castle with lightning while Nolan sat there frozen, staring at Nico’s mouth.

“Stop it,” Nico told him, poking his cheek, and Nolan smiled, finally looking at the ring on his finger. It was black and heavy.

“This is not possible,” Giroux said, turning back to them.

Nolan showed him his ring finger, smiling really wide, and Nico had known he was a little shit, but he had never seen him treat Giroux with anything other than utter respect.

“Why?” he asked. He sounded lost, sad. He sounded angry.

“I’m not really good at keeping my hands to myself,” Nico said, shrugging. “But I promise you, I waited until we were married to take him to bed, I wouldn’t disrespect him like that.”

Nolan laughed and Giroux cursed again. Nico shouldn’t be enjoying this so much.

“Nolan,” Giroux said, the air charged with electricity. “Did he force you to do this?”

And Nico wasn’t smiling anymore. Time seemed to stop. But before he could say anything, Nolan stood up, his entire body shaking.

“How dare you?” he said. The ground beneath them shook, as if the earth itself was getting ready to rise, and the walls of his castle trembled. The air smelled like a storm and leaves of all shapes and colours started falling from Nolan’s hands while they shook by his side. “How dare you say that?”

Nico didn’t know he was standing up until he was in front of Nolan, his back to Giroux. His eyes were no longer blue, but dark green, like moss, and his skin felt electric.

“Nolan,” he said. “Nolan, look at me.”

“He has no right,” he said. His voice was deep, like the roots of the oldest trees.

“He doesn’t,” he said. Screw Giroux if he thought he or anyone could force Nolan to do anything he didn't want to do. And marrying him to someone else? Nico knew Ivan, he was a quiet man with a nice smile, god of trade, roads and sports. Still, no matter how nice he was, he wasn’t getting Nolan, not if Nico had anything to say about it.

“I want him gone,” Nolan said, his voice like the soul of the earth. And Nico had seen him angry, but not like this.

“He’s gone then,” Nico said.

“Not without him,” Giroux said, and Nico was done.

He could see Nolan was quickly losing control, so he put his hand on the back of his neck and forced him to look at him.

“No, Nolan stays” Nico said and revoked Giroux’s permission to be in his domain.

Giroux didn’t seem to like that. Too bad he had no choice but to obey Nico. With a curse, he disappeared, and Nico wasted no time teleporting Nolan to his room, well, Nico’s room.

He let go of him before he did something stupid, like hug him and never let him go. They would have to talk about what Nolan had said (and what Nico had done and let Giroux believe), but that could wait. First, he needed Nolan to calm down.

He let him pace from one side of his room to the other, muttering to himself. Nico sighed but didn’t say anything, letting him work out the steam by himself. From the corner of his eye, he could see his sunflower plant was even bigger than it had been this morning. It had started from a single flower grown by Nolan, and soon after, it had started growing leaves and stems and more and more flowers until it almost looked like a vine, taking over an entire wall on his bedroom. All the flowers were focused on him, but Nico turned back to Nolan. If he kept pacing like that, he was going to make a hole on the floor. Fleetingly, Nico wondered if there was anything under the Underworld, but let that thought flow away and walked towards Nolan.

“Stop,” he said, but he didn’t listen, so Nico grabbed him by the belt loops and pushed him down on the bed.

Nolan’s eyes were still green and his hair shone as if stricken by lightning. He made as if to get up and Nico crawled on top of him, grabbing his wrists and pushing them down on the bed.

“I said stop. Giroux is gone. It’s just you and me,” he said, bumping his nose. “Nolan.”

For a moment, Nico thought it hadn’t worked, but then Nolan closed his eyes and the earth seemed to stop rumbling. The air went quiet, heavy with warmth, like after the storm had passed. Nolan opened his eyes and they were blue, blue, blue.

“Hi,” Nico said, relieved, and Nolan shuddered.

“Don’t,” he said when Nico released his wrists. “It keeps me grounded,” he whispered, so Nico tightened his hold again, his fingers drawing shapes over the crazy rhythm beating against his skin.

“You should have told me,” he said after a while. “You should have told me what was going on.”

“I was trying not to deal with it,” he said, staring at his eyes, his cheeks flushed from the exertion of keeping his powers in check probably.

“It makes sense now.”

“What?”

“Why you were spending so much time here.”

“No,” he said, offended. “I like it here. I like it here with you. Ivan and Giroux have nothing to do with us.”

“Okay,” Nico said, pleased to hear that. “We still need to talk about what happened. And what we’re going to do.”

“G wants me to marry Ivan. He says he’s a powerful god, but he doesn’t care much about politics or taking sides. G thinks if we get married, Ivan will have no choice but to side with him,” he said quickly, as if he didn’t like the taste of the words leaving his mouth. “G says there’s a war coming.”

“With whom?”

Nolan shrugged.

“Does it matter? He’s always making plans for potential wars.”

“It matters when he’s trying to sell you to the highest bidder.”

“Ivan’s not the highest bidder,” Nolan said, smiling sadly.

“I don’t care, he can’t have you.”

“I mean, I’m married to you,” he said, shy. And this time, the smile reached his eyes.

“I hate you. You should have told me.”

“What for? You would have told me I was crazy.”

“I would have thought of something else.”

“Like what? Because I’ve been thinking for weeks and I couldn’t come up with anything.”

“That’s why I’m the one doing all the thinking.”

“What am I supposed to do, then?”

“Look pretty and be quiet.”

“You think I’m pretty?” Nolan asked.

And that was totally not the point.

“You’re an idiot,” Nico said, and flopped down beside him, closing his eyes and trying to get the image of Nolan staring at his mouth out of his head.

“And you’re a liar,” Nolan said, turning on his side. His breath whispered against Nico’s cheek and he wanted to turn around and kiss him, but he forced himself to keep his eyes on the roof of his room. The sunflowers were staring at him.

“That’s not true.”

Well, he had lied to Giroux, but it was more a twist of words than a lie.

“You told G you weren’t good at keeping your hands to yourself,” he said, “but you’ve been very good so far.”

“Trust me, I have not.”

“You shouldn’t,” he said, and Nico finally looked at him, “keep your hands to yourself.”

Nolan caressed his cheek with one finger and to the surprise of no one, Nico rediscovered his self-control. He was the best at cockblocking himself. He grabbed Nolan’s hand.

“Yes, I should.”

“You should kiss me,” Nolan said.

“That’s a bad idea.”

“Why?” he sighed, annoyed.

“Because.”

Nico sat up and massaged his eyes. His headache was back.

“You don’t owe me anything,” he said, and Nolan laughed. It didn’t sound happy.

“You’re an idiot.”

“Thanks,” he said, rolling his eyes.

“I can’t believe you didn’t notice,” he said, his hands on his face. “How can you be so blind? They’re taking over your fucking bedroom.”

“What?” And then it hit him. “The sunflowers? I didn’t do anything, that’s all you.”

“Exactly,” Nolan said, pushing Nico’s confused face away. “That’s all me.”

He stood up and left. For a moment, Nico panicked that he would go back to Olympus, and he couldn’t protect him there. Not that Nolan needed his protection, but.

But Nolan just went into his room and Nico didn’t go after him. Time passed and Nolan didn’t leave, so Nico breathed a bit easier. It was already dark when he turned to look at the sunflowers. He would swear there were even more than before, when he had come back with Nolan, their shapes staring at him in the darkness of his room. An entire wall was covered in them from the ground to the roof.

“I don’t understand,” he said in the end.

The sunflowers didn’t answer.

-/-

It was stupid. The numbers made no sense, and he knew for a fact Hallsy hadn’t made a mistake.

He told the sunflower he was mindlessly caressing that.

“Do you think the Furies are behind in their paperwork again?”

The sunflower stayed quiet.

“Yeah, you’re right, I’m not asking them that.”

The door to his room opened and Nolan came in. He looked angry. His cheeks were on fire and his hair was wild on his shoulders.

“What,” Nico said.

They had barely talked for the last two days. Nico knew he was being a coward, but he didn’t know what to do. They had lied to Giroux about the marriage, they couldn’t take it back now, but it’s not as if they could pretend to be married for the rest of their lives. Gods married and separated over and over again, but still. It had been a stupid idea, and Nico was so gone for Nolan that he hadn’t stopped to think about the consequences.

Now they were stuck together, unmarried, but pretending to be married. And Nico had to live with the knowledge that Nolan wanted him to kiss him.

He finally understood what the souls in Tartarus felt.

“Stop it,” Nolan said. “What you’re doing.”

“I’m working,” Nico said, letting go of the sunflower in his hand. He didn’t think Nolan was making much sense, but Nico was too distracted by him to be thinking clearly, so. “Some of us have work to do.”

Nolan shook his head, his hair falling on his eyes. He pushed it away and glared at him and the sunflowers that had multiplied by now. Nico raised both eyebrows at him. They weren’t getting anywhere. Nolan wasn’t good with words, and Nico didn’t know what he was supposed to say.

Nolan crossed his arms over his chest and looked around the room. The sunflowers were almost taking over a second wall, wrapping themselves around the big window to his right. Some had even reached the ceiling. Nolan glared at them as if their odd behaviour wasn’t his fault.

“Is your hair braided?” he asked because his brain to mouth filter wasn’t working, apparently.

Nolan blushed.

“Alecto did it,” he said without looking at him.

And Nico had a bad feeling.

“Did you eat anything they gave you?”

Nolan turned to look at him.

“Nolan,” Nico said, standing up.

“No, okay?” he said. “I know you don’t want me here, I wouldn’t do that to you.”

“You’re an idiot,” Nico said. He walked towards him and pulled on one of the braids. His hair was getting long, and Nico only wanted to brush his fingers through it. He forced himself to let go. “You don’t belong here.”

“Thanks.”

Nico didn’t imagine the pain in his eyes. He grabbed his face carefully before he could walk away.

“You’re an idiot,” he repeated. “Do you know why they sent me here?”

Nolan shook his head, but stayed where he was.

“Because this place was the ugliest realm on the entire cosmos. They thought nobody would want it. But I didn’t care, all I wanted was power. And I got it. They played themselves, Simmers and G. Because even when the seas dry up and the skies fall, the dead will still exist. Even after all life ends, death will remain. That’s what I am, Nolan. The inevitable. Here, sooner or later, everything rottens.” He caressed his face with his finger. “You are sunlight and life, colours and breath. You don’t belong in this darkness.” He bumped his nose with his. “That doesn’t mean I don’t want you here.”

“Then let me stay.”

“There’s nothing here for you, little sunflower. Everything dies in this place.”

“You’re here,” he said, grabbing his wrist and stepping closer. “And I think I can survive just fine.” He pointed with his chin to the sunflowers whispering behind Nico.

He turned to look at them, they looked big, healthy, vibrant. Alive.

Nico looked at Nolan again, who was smiling, and it finally dawned on him.

“They’re you.”

Nolan nodded, his eyes focusing on his lips for a moment, and Nico’s mind went blank. He suddenly forgot why keeping Nolan was a bad idea. And he honestly didn’t care. Nolan bridged the space between them and Nico let him.

But before he could kiss him, the door to his room opened.

“Sorry to interrupt, newlyweds,” Hallsy said, a cigarette dangling from his mouth. “But Simmers is waiting for you in the throne room and I don’t like to entertain guests.”

Nico’s hands shook on Nolan’s waist.

“Those things are going to kill you,” he said, stunned that he hadn’t felt the god of the seas in his domain.

“Oh, I wish,” Hallsy said, smiling, and saluted him with two fingers. For the god of death, he was very careless with life. Or not. He would never understand what Hallsy was. Nico couldn’t feel the string that tied all beings to life in him. And he usually liked him, so he wasn’t keen on finding out what would happen when Hallsy died, if he even could die. He was always trying new things, the more dangerous or unhealthy, the better. The cigarettes were just the last vice he had taken on. It would pass, as all the others had passed.

“Simmers can wait,” Nolan said, kissing his neck.

Nico laughed.

-/-

“Took you long enough,” Simmers said when they eventually made it to the throne room.

“We were busy,” Nico said, not even looking at him. He was too engrossed admiring the blush on Nolan’s cheeks.

“Stop it,” he whispered, but he was smiling.

They had spent who knows how long kissing, and it hadn’t been enough. Nico thought having an eternity with Nolan wouldn’t be enough, but he was willing to risk it. He wanted  
to kiss him, and hold him, and touch him, and watch him take over the Underworld as he had already taken over Nico’s Furies and dog. And him, he had taken over Nico, too.

Nolan tugged on his hand, his eyes said he knew exactly what Nico was thinking.

Nico was about to pull him in for another kiss, but he remembered they weren’t alone.

“You’re still here,” he said.

“Yes, I came here to talk.”

“Can I bribe you to leave?” he said, finally turning to look at him.

Usually, Simmers was allowed to come and go through the Underworld because he never did. Nico was considering revoking his permission, but he didn’t want to deal with him and Giroux on the next meeting.

“No.”

“Fine. What do you want?”

“I’d like to know why you took over my island.”

“First of all, it wasn’t your island, it was unclaimed. And secondly, it wasn’t me, it was him,” he said, pointing at Nolan with his free hand.

“Hi,” Nolan said, waving. His hair was a mess, but a few brides had survived. He would have to ask Alecto to do them again, he was sure she wouldn’t mind.

“They’re your souls,” he told Nico, his eyes focusing on their intertwined hands.

“Not my fault they found somewhere nicer to roam free.”

“If you can’t control your dead, you are not doing your job.”

“I’m doing my job just fine,” he said, getting angry. “I told you aeons ago that this was no place for the good souls, but nobody cared. Nolan did. They followed him. And I let them. They finally got what they deserve.”

Simmers shook his head.

“Ares is not happy. He said you did it to extend your power.”

“I don’t give a fuck.”

“You never do.”

“The balance is not broken, so you can all go back to ignoring me.”

“You know that’s not possible.”

“If that’s all there is, there’s the door.”

“G is not pleased with you either,” he continued as if Nico hadn’t spoken.

“Let me put this in words even you can understand: I don’t give a fuck.”

Nolan hid his laugh on his shoulder, and Nico needed Simmers to leave so he could take him back to their room.

“You think he’s gonna let you steal his son?”

“I didn’t steal anyone.”

“You want me to believe Nolan likes being here?”

“Yes,” Nolan said. “I like it very much. Thanks for asking. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I want to keep enjoying my husband.”

Simmers’s eyes never missed a thing. He looked at their hands and sighed.

“Where’s your ring, Nico?”

Nolan turned to look at his hand. It was empty. Because they weren’t married. Not really.

“I took it off,” he said, kissing the ring on Nolan’s finger. ”I was giving him a handjob and it was getting in the way. Anything else you’d like to ask or can we go back to bed?”

Simmers looked at them as if he was seeing them for the first time.

“I didn’t see this coming,” he said.

“Trust me, me neither.”

“Well,” he said, “if you want to keep him for real, you better give him something to eat from the Underworld before G manages to get him back to Olympus.” He disappeared in a show of sea mist.

“How did he know?” Nolan asked.

“I don’t know. But I meant it. Back to bed.”

“So now you can’t keep your hands to yourself?”

“You were the one complaining about it the other day.”

“How about you feed me first.”

Nico rested his head against his shoulder.

“Tisiphone!” Nolan called, a smile on his voice, and Nico hated him. “Megaera, Alecto!”

In the next heartbeat, the three Furies dropped around them.

“Sunshine boy,” Alecto said.

“Sun-kissed,” Megaera said.

“He who dances with life,” Tisiphone said.

“Hi,” Nolan said, smiling.

“We’re keeping him,” they said.

“I know,” Nico said, defeated.

“Good,” Alecto said.

“The little king sees reason,” Megaera said.

“Little king, little king,” Tisiphone said.

“Stop it,” Nico said, and then remembered. “Wait. Have you been fucking up with the souls again? The numbers don’t add up.”

“We torture.”

“We make them suffer.”

“We make them pay.”

“I know. But you also like taking more souls than you should. You don’t have time to torture every single soul that deserves it and you know it.” They had already had this conversation many times. “I told you, they go straight to Tartarus, they will suffer, you don’t need to waste your time on them.”

“The little king doesn’t want us entertained.”

“Sunkissed,” Alecto said.

“Colourful boy,” Tisiphone said.

“Spring made man,” Megaera said. “He lets us play.”

Nico turned to Nolan, who was smiling sheepishly.

“You gave them more souls.”

“They’re very good at their job,” he said.

“We are.”

“Yes, we’re good.”

“Very good, he sees, he understands.”

“You’re not gonna make this easy for me, are you?”

“I was trying to help.”

“Very helpful you were,” Alecto said. “Look at me,” she said, extending her arms and showing them the vines around them.

“Indeed.” Tisiphone shook the snakes on her head and the tiny leaves covering them fell on the ground, burning.

“Yes.” Megaera twirled, the algae in her dress shinning dangerously. Even without water, they seemed to move on their own.

“Go,” Nico said.

“No, wait,” Nolan said and pinched him. “My braids came undone,” he said, blushing.

“No,” Alecto said.

“We will fix them,” Megaera said.

“Now, now, now,” Tisiphone said.

“And I’m hungry,” Nolan said. “Do you know where I can get something to eat?”

There was a moment of stunned silence and then the three Furies started circling Nolan, their hands touching him carefully, almost reverently.

“Yes, precious boy.”

“Yes, sun-kissed.”

“Yes, little king’s sunflower. Yes, yes, yes.”

“You’re staying.”

“You’re ours.”

“Forever. Yes, yes, yes.”

“Yes,” Nolan said, smiling, and touched their faces one by one. “Forever.”

-/-

“A pomegranate, for real?” Nico asked.

“What, I like them,” Nolan said, eating a seed. “They’re my favourite food.”

“You’re a weirdo,” Nico said, his heart beating fast.

“Yes,” Tisiphone said. “We can give you pomegranates, sun-kissed boy.”

“We can,” Megaera said. “You just have to stay.”

“Forever, yes,” Alecto said. “And you can have all the pomegranates you want. Little sunflower.”

Nolan smiled at them, putting another seed into his mouth. Slowly, the colour went back to his skin, his eyes shining.

There was no turning back now.

Nico sipped his wine and watched Alecto braid Nolan’s hair with careful claws while he ate seed after seed.

This was his life now, he supposed. He wasn’t complaining.

When Nolan yawned, all three Furies stopped dead what they were doing and stared at him.

“Bed,” Megaera said.

“He needs to rest,” Tisiphone said.

“Yes,” Alecto said. “Now.”

“He sleeps with me,” Nico said before they could take him away to their cave.

“Little king should share.”

“He’s ours.”

“We keep him safe.”

“You have work to do,” Nico reminded them.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Nolan said, smiling, and the three Furies touched his face before flying away.

Nico sighed.

“Come on, husband,” Nolan said.

“We’re not married,” he reminded him.

Nolan stopped.

“We’ll have to change that.”

“Will we?”

“Yes, I’ll make an honest man out of you.”

Nico laughed but teleported them to their room before he lost track of time kissing him senseless.

-/-

Waking up next to Nolan was a new experience. Nico wondered if they’d ever leave the bed, and he didn’t think so, not when Nolan was warm from sleep and his hard cock was pressing against Nico’s ass.

“If you keep doing that, we’re going to be late,” Nico said.

“I don’t care,” Nolan answered.

Nico turned around and kissed him. Because he could. Because he wanted.

When he was sure that, if he didn’t stop, he wouldn’t let Nolan go, he broke the kiss and bumped their noses together.

“Come on,” he said, “let’s ask Hallsy to marry us.”

“Can he really do that?”

“I mean, who better than Death himself?”

“Good point,” he said, smiling. “And then back to bed.”

“No, we’re going to the meeting.” Nolan pouted, but Nico poked his cheek. “We’re dealing with this.”

“He can’t take me away from you.”

“He can’t.”

Nolan kissed him again and maybe it took them a bit longer than planned to get out of bed.

While Nico waited for Hallsy and Nolan, the Furies descended on him.

“Little king,” Megaera said.

“We’ll share our sun-kissed boy,” Tisiphone said.

“Sunflower, yes,” Alecto said.

“Glad to know,” Nico drawled.

“Ready to tie the knot, babe?” Hallsy asked, appearing out of the blue and patting him on the back.

“Took you long enough.”

“Sorry, there’s no rest for the wicked.”

As soon as Nolan entered the throne room, the Furies surrounded him, cooing at him. Nolan was laughing, letting them pet him, and Nico could only stare.

“Is it contagious?” Hallsy asked. “First Cerberus, then you, then those crazy dudes. Am I next?”

“Shut up,” Nico said.

“Come on, pretty boy!” Hallsy called. “Let’s get this over with. I have souls to collect and I’m sure you have a bed to break in.”

Nolan blushed, but his smile got bigger.

“Hi,” he said.

Nico turned him around and hugged him from behind, resting his head on his shoulder and kissing his neck.

“Hi,” he whispered.

The ceremony was short, or as short as Hallsy could make it. He often debated with the Furies about what to call Nolan and he even made them all wait while Nolan made a bunch of flowers appear out of the blue so that Tisiphone could put them in his hair before he continued with the ceremony.  
In the end, Nico took his ring off Nolan’s finger and put it on again, because it was symbolic. Or something. He wasn’t really paying attention to Hallsy, too busy kissing Nolan wherever he could reach. His neck, his cheek, the back of his ears, his hair.

When it was time for Nolan to put a ring on Nico’s finger, he turned around.

“Here,” he said, and showed him a ring made of green vines, deceptively soft. Nico was sure it wasn’t moving, but he could feel the pulse of life in it. “I made it.” He put it on Nico’s finger and immediately, tiny colourful spots of colour appeared on it. Small flowers, he realized.

“Well, there can be no doubt who chose you now,” Hallsy said. “And, whatever. You’re husband and husband, till I do you part, which I won’t, so you’re stuck together forever. Congrats.”

Nolan kissed him and Nico finally heard the earth sing. It was singing for them.

-/-

Mostly to annoy Simmers, but also because he wanted to see Nolan, who had left early to talk to Giroux alone, Nico arrived at the meeting with five minutes to spare.  
There were a few gods sitting and a couple mingling to one side, but Nico wasn’t interested, so he sat down on his usual place and waited.

A soon as Nolan came into the room, all his senses focused on him. He didn’t look worse for wear, just tense. Nico didn’t like that one bit. But when his blue eyes found him and a smile broke his face in two, Nico forgot what he was thinking.

“Hi, husband,” Nolan said, sitting down next to him and kissing him.

Nico could feel a couple of gods staring at them, but he didn’t give a damn. He kissed him again.

“Hi,” he said against his lips.

“Missed me?”

“You weren’t gone long enough, little pest.”

Nolan’s smile got bigger and Nico brought him closer, nuzzling his hair. There were still a few flowers clinging to the braids Alecto had put on his head this morning.

Giroux cleared his throat and the meeting started. It took a bit longer than usual for all the gods to find seats, but Nico didn’t take his eyes (or hands) off Nolan. Not even when Giroux started discussing the first topic of the day. He didn’t really care.

“You should pay attention,” Nolan whispered, but he was staring at his mouth.

“Look who’s talking.”

“I’m not the king of a realm.”

“You kind of are now.”

That took him aback for a moment.

“Oh, shit,” he said, before turning away and staring at Giroux, as if he could absorb every single word he was saying.

Nico sighed and accepted his fate of spending the next couple of hours sitting here. At least, now he could stare at Nolan all he wanted while he drowned whatever G was saying.

He was too busy playing with Nolan’s hair and drawing shapelessly with his finger on his palm, that he missed the end of the meeting.

“Come on,” he said, nudging Nolan, “time to go.”

“Honeymoon time?”

Nico laughed, and Nolan took advantage of his distraction to put a flower behind his ear.

“Let’s go home,” Nolan said, looking soft, and Nico couldn’t help but kiss him.

He had to stop when someone cleared their throat in front of them.

“Nolan,” Giroux said, arms crossed over his chest, thunder in his voice. “Nico.”

“Hey,” Nolan said.

Nico held him tighter.

Giroux sighed.

“Is this…” he stopped and massaged his eyes. “Is this really what you want?”

“Yes,” he said, quickly.

A moment of silence followed.

“I thought Ivan could make you happy,” he said. “I wanted an alliance, but I wanted you to be happy more than anything. I should have said that sooner.”

“It wouldn’t have changed a thing,” Nolan said. “And I’m happy. This is what I want.”

Giroux nodded slowly.

“It’s going to take me a while to accept it, you know? But I will.”

“We have time,” Nolan said, and he sounded very small. Nico held him tighter.

Giroux sighed.

“If you hurt him…” and he didn’t need to finish.

Nico didn’t think Giroux could take him, not without destroying the entire world as they knew it. And he knew he knew it. Nico took it for what it was, the only blessing he could give them right now.

“I won’t.”

Giroux kept his eyes on him for a charged moment and then turned back to Nolan.

“This is not about you two, but I’m going to need you, kiddo. You just can’t live in the Underworld all the time.” Nico went cold with dread, but before he could say anything, he continued. “You’ve seen what’s happened these last couple of days.”

And Nico hadn’t even thought about it, but Nolan maybe had, because he blushed, not meeting Giroux’s eyes.

“What’s going on?”

“The world, the human world, is a mess,” Giroux said, not unkindly. “Spring is completely gone.”

Nolan hid his face on Nico’s neck, breathing wetly.

“What do they think?”

“Climate change, but if it continues like this, it’s going to mess up the balance for a long time, maybe even forever.”

Nico shook his head. He didn’t want to give Nolan up, but there was no way Nolan would abandon his humans. And Nico… Nico couldn’t really let him either.

“I don’t want to be away from you,” Nolan said, and Nico didn’t let go of him.

“You don’t have to come back.”

“He does,” Giroux said and he didn’t sound happy about it. “You know there’s no connection between the Underworld and the human world. His powers don't work from there.”

By then, Nolan was shaking, and Nico felt like letting the entire human world burn down. This couldn’t be happening.

“Maybe there’s a way,” Simmers said.

Nico turned to look at him surprised, he didn’t know he had stayed.

“What are you talking about?” Giroux asked.

“Nolan doesn’t have to spend all his time in the human world or in the Underworld, he can split it.”

Nolan looked up at him, and the hope is in his eyes was probably reflected on Nico’s too.

“How long?”

“Trial and error, I guess. But it’s better than the alternative.”

Nolan turned to look at Nico.

“We’ll figure it out.”

Nolan nodded and Nico kissed his nose.

“We’ll talk tomorrow,” he said when Giroux opened his mouth. “Now I'm taking my husband home. And no, it’s non-negotiable.”

He teleported them back to their room and kissed him quiet.

-/-

“You never told me why Giroux vanished you in the first place.”

He didn’t imagine Nolan not meeting his eyes, and his cheeks were definitely rosier than usual.

“It doesn’t matter.”

Nico poked him.

“Please?”

“It’s stupid.”

“I don’t think it is.”

Nolan finally looked at him and Nico couldn’t help but kiss him. When they came up for air, Nolan closed his eyes and rested his head against his for a moment.

“I was young. And stupid. I…” He shook his head and took a deep breath. “He was stupid too. He raised me away from everyone because he didn’t want me near Olympus, or the gods. He wanted me to grow up away from the politics and the fights.”

“I think that’s noble.”

“No, he took away my birthright.”  
And Nico remembered a long time ago conversation in which he had said exactly that and Nolan had denied it. He wondered now if Nolan had always thought that and had been only trying to defend G in front of a stranger.

“He was trying to keep you safe.” And Nico didn't know why he was defending Giroux. Maybe he understood what it was like to want to keep Nolan all to himself.

“Are you defending him or being contrary just for the sake of it?”

“Maybe a bit of both.”

“Stop it.”

Nico smiled and saw the corners of his eyes relax a bit.

“Maybe he was trying to keep me safe, but he couldn’t do that forever. So when I was old enough to mask my presence, I sneaked into Olympus. I wanted to see the gods he talked about and whose powers I could feel along my skin.”

“And?”

“They were having a meeting. It was… interesting.”

“Those meetings are boring as hell.”

“You say that because you were forced to attend. I was forbidden from going even near one. And there were so many gods I could finally see, whose powers were calling to me and I could finally answer back.”

Nico caressed his face with one finger, but didn’t interrupt him.

“I met TK and we became friends immediately. G couldn’t be with me all the time, so TK sneaked in and we would go hunting together. With him, I was free for the first time in my life.”

“And then?”

“G caught me sneaking in one of the meetings and that was it,” he said a bit too quickly.

“I don’t think that’s the whole story,” Nico said, nosing along his cheek.

Nolan’s breath left his lungs in a sigh and he buried his hand on his hair.

“Please let this go?”

“I want to know.”

Nolan took a deep breath, and for a moment, Nico thought he wasn't going to say anything else.

“G heard me tell TK I liked the God of the Dead,” he mumbled. But Nico had been training in Nolan speak for a long time now, so he understood.

“Wait, so he just vanished you because you thought I was hot?”

“That’s not what I said.”

“That’s totally what you said.”

“Shut up.”

“I’m never shutting up about this.”

“You’re an asshole.”

“This asshole put a ring on your finger, so you’re stuck with me forever.”

“G was right,” he said, massaging his eyes.

Nico kissed his hand.

“Tell me.”

“It’s just... he saw it was more than that.”

“You didn’t know me back then.”

“I didn’t have to. I saw the way you argued with the other gods, how you didn’t take anyone’s shit, even G’s. You didn’t have to raise your voice to make the entire room hear you. You were unapologetically free in a way I couldn’t even begin to imagine. And G saw I was attracted to that, like a moth to a flame, so he sat with me and we talked. He didn’t mind me being friends with TK, he was safe he said, but he drew the line with you.” He looked at him and Nico only wanted to drown in him. “He told me… He told me who you were, what the Underworld was. He said it was an ugly place, full of despair and pain and hurt. He told me about the Furies. He said there was only one god who could rule that place, and it had to be you, because you were as dark as the souls that you punished.”

“He was right.”

“Not entirely. Even in the darkest places there is light.”

“You’re the only light here, sunflower.”

“That’s not true.”

Nico didn’t feel like arguing, so he just kissed his nose instead.

“Anyways,” Nolan said, blinking slowly and dragging his eyes away from Nico’s mouth, “he sent me to live among the humans, thinking it would cure me, and I quote, of my stupid crush.”

“How was it, living with them?”

“It’s different.” He caressed his face with one finger, and Nico thought that was the end of the conversation. “Here, nobody ever changes. Or if they do, it takes them centuries. But humans are ever changing. Their lives are so short, but they make them count.”

“How long were you there?”

“I’m not sure. A couple of lives. Every time I grew old, I moved places.”

“Were you always alone?”

“TK stopped by. And I loved some humans, but when G came for me, I didn’t leave much behind.”

“And then you burst into my life.”

“I was just walking around,” he said, smiling. “I was trying to remember my old life. I didn’t mean to find you.” He shook his head. “Maybe you were right. You are inevitable.”

-/-

The Furies hadn’t taken kindly to Nolan going back to Olympus. They had swarmed into the throne room, with claws and fangs and poison in the air, and only Nolan had been able to stop them from tearing the gods apart.

Nico could have stopped them, but he had decided to let them work out their anger in their own way. He was feeling miserable himself, and a part of him enjoyed having the Furies share the pain inside his ribs.

In the end, there was nothing he or them could do. Nolan had eaten Underworld food only six times, so G had used that loophole to keep him in Olympus. Six months above ground, six months underground.

It wasn’t enough, but they had no choice. So they managed. Nico was back to not caring about much and the Furies had found a new appetite for torture. Nico stopped limiting the souls they took, instead letting them grab as many as they wished. Doing paperwork was a bitch, but at least it gave him something to do other than miss Nolan. And the Furies were less sad. He wouldn’t tell anyone, but he had a soft spot for them.

And time passed, even for gods and souls, time passed. If Nico kind of abandoned his duties during those six months Nolan spent underground, well, it was a good thing Jesper was a workaholic.

Nolan didn’t talk much about Olympus or G or anything he did back in the human world when he was away, he much rather focus all his attention on Nico (or the Furies, who refused to leave them alone), which was what Nico prefered, so he didn’t push.

Nico had refused to give Nolan back until after they had had time to break in their bed (and few other places) and Giroux had not been happy. Nico didn’t give a shit. As far as he was concerned, climate change was the humans’ fault, so they could deal with it while he enjoyed his husband.

But then Nolan had gone.

And Nico had had no choice but to go back to the life he had had before, whatever it had been. And wait.

And wait.

And wait.

But time passed.

“The sunflowers have taken over your room,” Nolan said happily, appearing next to him.

Cerberus jumped on him until he scratched all his heads behind his ears and then chased the stick Nico threw him.

“Well, you’ve taken over my life, so I guess it’s only fitting they did the same with my room.”

“You love me,” Nolan said, smiling.

Nico kissed him, pinning him against the ground. Around them, he could hear the plants whispering.

“Yes, I do.”

The flowers bloomed.

“Hi, husband,” he said.

Nolan smiled, and Nico felt spring whisper against his skin.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading <3


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